Elon Musk’s father defends son, says he was ‘friends’ with Black servants during apartheid

Elon Musk’s father Errol Musk came in defence of his son after the Tesla CEO was accused of racism. Errol is a South African with British ancestry. Errol said his children were uninterested in “political nonsense” and that they had good relationship with their Black domestic helpers during the apartheid era in South Africa. 

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“We had several black servants who were their friends,” the 79-year-old told the Washington Post responding to Musk’s opposition to workplace diversity and equity programs (DEI). 

Errol further talked about the South Africa during his children’s upbringing as a “well-run, law-abiding country with virtually no crime at all.” 

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Talking about importing emeralds from an unregistered Zambian mine during the apartheid era, Errol said the entire operation “helped me and my two boys sustain ourselves during the collapse of Apartheid”. 

Although in 2021, Elon Musk distanced himself from the claim of his family’s involvement with the mine as he said in a post on the social media platform X that he came to Canada in 1989 with only $2,500 Canadian dollars, took on $100,000 in student debt, and independently built his first business using his personal computer.

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‘Bubble of entitlement’

Critics argue that Elon Musk’s privileged background protected him from the realities of apartheid. Rudolph Pienaar, a former schoolmate, described Elon’s childhood as a “bubble of entitlement,” telling The Washington Post, “I am not sure if Elon can conceive of systematic discrimination and struggle because that’s not his experience. His life now in some ways is how it was under apartheid—rich and entitled with the entire society built to sustain him and his ilk.”

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(With inputs from agencies)